<p>Not a fact of life. 2 of my best friends with 0 EFC have already incurred $16k in debt just two years in. One of them has a 4.0. Stop complaining. Please. The only thing UT owes most of the posters in this thread is in state tuition. That’s all you’re entitled to.</p>
<p>I’ve noticed a lot of posters have been saying they make 40k+ a year, thats amazing compared to my fam. My ma only makes 18k in a year while raising my 3 sisters and I (not to mention the little one on the way). I think UT only really gives to those who are like DEEPLY in need (like myself perhaps). But you know what, UT is funny. I got my financial aid package last week and I still need to take out a 5k loan…guess that means no groceries this year haha! I wouldn’t feel too bad about not receiving any $$ because us po’ folk ain’t being relieved either…But its all gonna be worth it in the end right? c:</p>
<p>There is a solution middle class folks. Choose a school which offers good merit aid to students with your child’s stats. They are out there. UT even offers a few merit scholarships:</p>
<p>[Forty</a> Acres Scholars Program - Texas Exes Scholarship Foundation](<a href=“http://www.texasexesscholarshipfoundation.org/scholarships/forty-acres/]Forty”>http://www.texasexesscholarshipfoundation.org/scholarships/forty-acres/)</p>
<p>[TxTell:</a> Dedman Scholars - summary](<a href=“http://txtell.lib.utexas.edu/stories/d0002-short.html]TxTell:”>http://txtell.lib.utexas.edu/stories/d0002-short.html)</p>
<p>For students with lower stats, schools lower down the rankings will offer them money. </p>
<p>Obviously, this won’t help the op, unless his son were to defer a year and reapply. It might help others though. </p>
<p>There are numerous threads on this board listing the schools which offer the most money and the stats of the students who received the awards. The merit money isn’t reserved only for those with academic achievement. Several schools award merit aid for significant volunter/service achievements. </p>
<p>There are also science fairs, writing contests, art contests, etc., that offer scholarships. Winning these types of awards increases the likelihood of receiving merit aid, as well. </p>
<p>College costs are sky rocketing and the job market is weak. To me, it makes sense to try to minimize debt and maximize awards. This does take a lot of research, advance planning, and there are a lot extra forms to complete. It will pay off in the end, though.</p>
<p>GucciGucci
You are very wrong about “DEEPLY in need”.</p>
<p>I just came home from UT event, picked up some information sheets there. </p>
<p>The Finaid information sheet says:
“Tuition promise
The University does not have a tuition promise, rather, we commit to locating the maximum grant funding possible for each student based on their individual circumstances. As a result, this past year the average UT Freshman with a family income of less than 60,000 received grant funding that exceeded total tuition and fees cost.”</p>
<p>It means that all the people complaining about “only loans” make much more than 60,000 a year even if they call themselves “middle class”.
I wonder how much do you have to earn to be “middle class” considering that according to this table MORE THAN HALF of US households earns just that - less than 60,000 a year.
<a href=“http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0694.pdf[/url]”>http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0694.pdf</a></p>
<p>The Finaid information sheet also says:
“The majority of scholarship offers will be made during the months of March and April 2012. Financial aid notifications will begin in early April 2012.”
So there is still hope.</p>
<p>thats strange…my girlfriend has an efc of 156 and she got 4k more than she needed for tuition for the year</p>
<p>lets subtract 800 for books</p>
<p>thats 3200 extra money…shes going to use it on rent…right now shes working to save money to pay rent and food</p>
<p>if she were to live at home and commute (which for her would be a 35-50 minute drive depending on traffic)then
that would 3200 just be free money</p>
<p>i can guarantee you if her efc were to be like 800-1000 she would not have gotten that much money.</p>
<p>look if you’re a parent that makes decent money…like say 40,000-75,000</p>
<p>JUST FIND A WAY TO SET ASIDE 10-20k for your kid!</p>
<p>if my parents who make 30k can set aside 5k for me…im sure you can set aside more…</p>
<p>fact is you’re probably not going to get that much financial aid</p>
<p>it is not something you’re entitled to…stop acting like it.</p>
<p>sure its nice if the government and alumni want to give you free money to attend school but dont go into college with that being your only plan to pay for that…then when you dont get fincancial aid you complain and whine about it</p>
<p>if UT gives me just as much money as my gf got then ill give my parents their money back and tell them i dont really need it that much so they should keep it…</p>
<p>you should never in any way feel entitled to financial aid money or anything free in this world…</p>
<p>What about parents who aren’t willing to pay? My parents won’t contribute more than 25k through all four years. They make $70k/yr. I agree they should be contributing more, but my dad simply refuses to. It would make the relationship between my parents even more tense than it already is (they have terrible arguments over financials). FAFSA doesn’t account for stingy parents who aren’t willing to pay. I’m not willing to let that get in the way of going to UT for engineering, so I’m stuck with incurring $10-15k/yr in debt. I am making it happen - but I really, really want nothing more than to be able to focus on my college and not have to worry about the financials. Sadly, that is not an option. Do I think the system should be changed so that students who worked hard in high school have a chance at a good education with minimum debt? So that merit is equally weighted with need? Yes. Call that entitlement if you want.</p>
<p>xcloudy, I disagree. Without means testing, most “merit” based schorlarships would go to the well to do. It’s simple. They have better resources and cultural background to do better. I know it because my children are beneficiaries of it. It wouldn’t be fair if they were given merit scholarships because they did well in high school, thanks to their being beneficiaries of a “middle” class upbringing.</p>
<p>Oh, I can agree with that. It’s just that financial aid isn’t very holistic. One year of your tax returns hardly tells your whole story. For example, in my case, we were not always upper middle class. My parents were immigrants and my breadwinning parent was unemployed for nearly two years in 2009-2010 (in my high school years, no less). We may have made 70k last year, but after those two years of poverty-level income, is it fair to hold that one year of 70k equally against families who’ve been making that consistently? That’s just one example…I’m not trying to complain, just venting.</p>
<p>xcloudy, I think you’re an awesome kid, and I understand your frustration. I, myself, am an immigrant who worked full-time to put myself through a private university (Baylor). Granted, my experience clouds my vision. I have no sympathy for whiny middle class kids who could work full-time and finance their own education:-) That said, I have made sure my own children don’t go through that experience, so I live somewhat frugally so I can finance their college education. I drive a years old car and live significantly below my means so that my children don’t have to go through what I went through. I am sorry your parents don’t feel that way. Best wishes!</p>
<p>yeah the system does not account for a random year where your parents might have made a little more money than normally</p>
<p>for example if my parents were to randomly somehow make an extra 10-15k a year…my financial aid would be pulled because the tax return would show extra income</p>
<p>that doesnt mean that my family is any better off…</p>
<p>of course in any “system” there are always flaws, there is no way to keep everyone happy</p>
<p>it sucks that your parents will not contribute more than 25k to your education…its still a lot more than my parents can give me and they WANT to give me as much as I need…maybe you should look into the b-on-time loan.(it easy to graduate on time if you take summer classes) out of curiosity how much $$ do you get from the pell grant? i know most people with 0 efc get about 5000 from the pell grant alone.</p>
<p>Locness</p>
<p>Starting this year EFC 0 means income $23,000 and below.</p>
<p>And I don’t believe that UT is going to give B-On-Time loan to any people who are not at risk not to graduate in 4 years. B-On-Time Loan is a huge incentive for students w/ disadvantaged backgrounds (from schools where nobody from AP classes ever got 3 and above for any AP test or where nobody even takes these tests etc)</p>
<p>xcloudy</p>
<p>I don’t think your parents are stingy. If one of your parents was recently unemployed for 2 years they are simply cautious. The economy is really bad. If your parents are older than 40 they are the first to be laid off and the last to be hired.</p>
<p>I’m not sure why that wouldn’t mean that your family is better off. An additional $10-15 thousand is a pretty big chunk of change!</p>
<p>well just think if its just an anomally…like just this one year you make more $$ then next year its back to normal…i was just using random numbers</p>
<p>and i got a b-on-time loan…i took it but not the full amount.
if im taking summer classes…im on track to graduate a semester early if i really wanted to.
instead im just spreading out my classes so I dont have to feel stressed about making good grades.</p>
<p>UT does not help families who make less than $60,000 a year very much. My mom earns $42,500 a year and they expect her to pull out $14,000 worth in loans for 1 year.
I mean, what is that? I did get a scholarship and two grants, when combined that gave me $7500, but c’mon.</p>
<p>pasdeclaud</p>
<p>$7,500 of gift money with tuition around $ 10,000 is not bad.
The post was about total tuition and fees cost, not housing and living expenses.</p>
<p>Ya Ya</p>
<p>I know that it’s not bad at all. I think I’m just more upset that they’re requiring my mom to take out $14,000 in loans, which is at least 1/3 of what she earns in a year.</p>
<p>pasdeclaud</p>
<p>I understand your frustration. I have a teen with certain expectation at home too.:-)</p>
<p>UT is NOT requiring YOUR MOM to take loans. YOU DO.
It is the same as choosing between Focus and BMW for YOUR first car. If you choose BMW will you blame dealership that they make you mom take/cosign for huge loans?</p>
<p>Ya Ya</p>
<p>But to my understanding, a PLUS Loan is one that a parent takes out and can only be given as an Unsubsidized Loan to a student if the parent does not pass the credit check or get approved for the loans.</p>
<p>pasdeclaud</p>
<p>I believe you have to go through some kind of special tutorial about loans before you accept or deny your finaid package at UT.</p>
<p>If you did not do it, here is the table with max amount of loans a student can get.
[Student</a> Aid on the Web](<a href=“http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/studentloans.jsp?tab=funding]Student”>http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/studentloans.jsp?tab=funding)</p>
<p>If your parent doesn’t pass the credit check you will not be able to borrow 14,000 a year. Your limit will be 9,500</p>
<p>The university then can offer something different instead of loans (Work study???). If you cannot get anything but private loans then I would suggest to forget UT for a couple of years, go to community college, make the best grades possible and try to join Phi Theta Kappa to get a scholarship when you transfer
<a href=“International College Honor Society | Phi Theta Kappa”>International College Honor Society | Phi Theta Kappa;